Month: June 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today that it has secured an agreement with the State of Alaska and state officials to resolve claims that driver license transactions did not consistently provide certain voter registration opportunities required by Section 5 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

Section 5 of the NVRA, also known as the “motor voter” provision, requires covered states to provide voter registration opportunities for federal elections when people apply for or renew driver’s licenses or other identification documents through state motor vehicle offices. The NVRA also requires that changes of address submitted for driver’s license or identification document purposes update voter registration information unless the applicant opts out of the update.

The Justice Department’s investigation found that applications and renewals for Alaska’s driver’s licenses and identification documents did not consistently serve as voter registration applications for federal office as required by the NVRA. Likewise, the procedures by which citizens notify the state’s motor vehicle office that their address had changed did not serve as a notification of change of address for voter registration purposes.

Under the terms of the settlement, Alaska will fully integrate a voter registration opportunity into all applications for driver’s licenses and other identification documents. Alaska will also ensure that all change of address information submitted for driver’s licenses or state-issued identification purposes will be used to update voters’ address information unless a voter declines to update their voter registration. Alaska has also agreed to appoint a Division of Motor Vehicles NVRA coordinator and NVRA site coordinators for each Division of Motor Vehicles office.

“The ability to register to vote and to update voter registration information easily and conveniently is essential in a robust, inclusive democracy,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This agreement is part of our commitment to ensuring that eligible voters across Alaska have access to voter registration opportunities required by federal law. We will continue working to ensure that states and counties across the country are complying with the mandates of the National Voter Registration Act and other federal voting rights laws. We thank state officials for agreeing to undertake actions we deem necessary to achieve compliance with the mandates of the NVRA.”

“I commend our many state officials for their hard work and dedication in reaching this agreement,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “It is vital for every citizen in our democracy to have a full and fair opportunity to participate in the electoral process. This includes the ability of every citizen to register to vote and to update their registration information with the ease of access that the law requires.”

More information about the NVRA and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website at www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/. Complaints under the federal voting rights laws may be reported to the Civil Rights Division at https://civilrights.justice.gov/.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Eight defendants were charged in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania today with scheming to fraudulently obtain more than $7 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), and pre-pandemic Small Business Administration (SBA) loans.

According to court documents, beginning in or around January 2018, defendants Frank Hamilton, 52, of Simi Valley, California; Michael Jones, 55, of Azusa, California; Tina Chen, 39, of Diamond Bar, California; Kenny Tran, 38, of Diamond Bar, California; Tim Park, 37, of Northridge, California; Peter An, 37, of Chatsworth, California; Joseph Greco, 42, of Simi Valley, California; Edwin Bonilla, 36, of Los Angeles, California, and others allegedly conspired to apply for SBA, PPP, and EIDL loans on behalf of their respective businesses that were dormant companies or companies with limited business operations. In exchange for fees, Hamilton, Jones, and others made the businesses appear to be functioning companies with operations and employees by creating fake documents, including fake bank statements and fictitious tax documents for the businesses. One conspirator provided a script for other conspirators to use in calls with lenders. The conspirators allegedly obtained over $7 million in PPP, EIDL, and SBA loans. 

Court documents further allege that the conspirators followed so-called “forgiveness plans” that directed them to transfer the fraud proceeds as purported payroll payments for each of the companies that obtained PPP funds. These “forgiveness plans” were designed to disguise the proceeds as payroll payments and make it appear that the loan recipient was meeting the SBA requirement that a percentage of the PPP funds be used for payroll, thus increasing the likelihood that the loan recipient would qualify for loan forgiveness. At Hamilton’s direction, Jones, Chen, Tran, Park, An, Greco, and Bonilla wired the disguised fraud proceeds to a bank account in the name of a dormant company Hamilton controlled.

Hamilton, Jones, Chen, Tran, Park, An, Greco, and Bonilla are each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite of the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) Eastern Region; Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty of IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Philadelphia Field Office; Special Agent in Charge William Walker of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the SBA-OIG, IRS-CI, HSI’s Philadelphia Field Office, and the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office. 

Trial Attorneys David A. Stier and Patrick B. Gushue of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Judy G. Smith of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866 720 5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

An information is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.   

Source: United States Department of Justice News

TUCSON, Ariz. – Last week, Jamaar Charles Samuels, 39, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to 72 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release. Last summer, Judge Rash sentenced Samuels’ co-defendant, Patrick Michael La Fever, 60, also of Tucson, to 97 months in prison, followed by 60 months of supervised release. Both men previously pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and, in La Fever’s case, the conspiracy included the distribution of heroin. 

On April 24, 2020, La Fever was arrested as he attempted to smuggle approximately 1.56 kilograms of heroin into the United States from Mexico through the vehicle lane at the port of entry in Nogales, Arizona. La Fever was released from custody pending further investigation of the incident. Over the following months, La Fever continued to distribute narcotics. In October and November 2020, he engaged in a series of transactions involving the sale of approximately two kilograms of methamphetamine, in total. 

La Fever was again arrested on November 12, 2020, during an enforcement operation jointly conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS). At the time of this second arrest, La Fever was in possession of drugs, two firearms, 457 rounds of ammunition, a sword, brass knuckles, and approximately one pound of high explosives.

During the investigation into La Fever’s conduct, law enforcement officers identified Samuels as one of La Fever’s drug associates. Samuels was subsequently arrested and, at the time he was taken into custody, he was found in possession of drugs, over $3,000 in cash, and a stolen firearm.   

Customs and Border Protection’s U.S. Border Patrol, HSI, DEA, AZDPS, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives participated in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael R. Lizano, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-21-00920-SHR(LCK) & CR-21-03031-SHR(LCK)
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-098_Samuels

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
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